UNDERSTANDING THE SELF:

SOCIOLOGY
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this learning module, the student is
expected to:
a. compare and contrast the difference views of the
self
b. examine the two components of self
c. described the concept of the looking-glass
self and how it affects self-concept
d. explain the concept of social comparison and
why it is important to human behavior.
 INTRODUCTION:

*Sociology is a discipline which attempts at the scientific

study of the society. The word sociology has been derived
from Latin word ‘ Societus’ and ‘Logy’ which means
society and science .
* It is the branch of science studies the human entire
social relationships is it social, cultural, economic,
political, and so on.
1. Sociological views of the self
1.1 The self as product of modern society among
others
- Modernization self becomes a
“delocalized”, free to seek or choose it’s own identify ;
defining religion, theological tradition; free
from customary constraint.
- Stability of one’s self –identity no longer
based on pre-given tradition broad definition of self.
 * Clifford Geertz (1973) believes that the
struggle for one’s individuality is only possible
in modern society
- Modernization or destruction of the
traditional way of life “ delocalizes” the self.
This poses certain problem a:
1.The newfound freedom threatens the very authenticity of the self
( e.g. love)
2. Alienation (Marx)- human beings haunted by the very images they
have created
3. Objectification of the body (e.g. medical practice)
4. Dehumanization of self

Solution: For the individual to discover the “true” and “authentic”

part of himself/herself to realize his/her potentials, there is a need
to abolish repressive social constraints.
 1.2 :SELF AS NECESSARY FICTION
Self is the sum of individuals action that represent of something
metaphor. For us its impossible to remember something even were not experienced.
Self has a continuity even just on our mind. A true given self is not what unite these
experience but it is the presumed unity of these experience that gave rise to a concept of
our self.
1.3: POST – MODERN VIEW OF THE SELF:
self is a narrative, a text that can be written or rewritten.
Self is a story. It is
dynamic.
An introspective recounting
of a person's development.
actively shaped
based on one's
experiences
pagsisiyasat ng sarili
Self is a product of modern discourse that is
historically and socially imprisoned by what is
acceptable by norms. According to Mr. Green
the self is “digitalized”
in cyberspace, a virtual version of who
we are.
the persona you use
when you're online.
The following are the manifestations:

1.Information of technology
dislocates the self, thus self is
digitalized in cyberspace.
2.Global migration produces
multicultural identities.
3.Post modern selves are pluralized.
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE SELF:

The individual is an active strategizing

agent that negotiates for himself or in Tagalog
“Ikaw ang gumagawa ng kung anu ka” . We
construct our selves based on our social roles
through socialization agents – family, school,
community and etc.
1.4 Rewriting the self as an Artistic Creation:

Nietzsche states that the unity of the self is

not pre given but accomplished through
consciousness effort transform self though
beautiful work of art. As a person we have
an obligation to have fashion, care for and
cultivate our self. We can recreate our
selves to get note of the present, forgive the
1.5 SELF CREATION AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY:
* Memory and forgetting are most important process
in recreating of a person’s identity.
- Such as memories of the past include pain, triumph,
etc. that can be linked with SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION.
• Self creation is formed within “imagined communities ”.

• Selves obtain their nature from cultural traditions, embodied

in various social institutions.

- preserved in a collective narrative

• Self creation – cultural of differences among and

between individuals and cultural groups.
 1.6 SELF CREATION AND THE STRUGGLE OF
CULTURAL RECOGNITION:

* This is a challenge of self-identity amidst

recognition of racial and ethnic identities. Self creation is
necessarily grounded on collective solidarities.

• We create ourselves by struggling with cultural

hassles then owning the created self.
• We learn to adjust.
 BEYOND SELF CREATION:

• The quest or search for self-identity is a product of

modern society, but this is complicated by the socio-
cultural sensibilities postmodernity.

has something to do with

the development of popular
culture
 -The new information
technologies and
globalizations, reconfiguring
ourselves as to….
Gender and
Sex

Ethnicity
-belonging to a social
Creating one’s group that has a common
own style or national or cultural
tradition.
signature
 Yet the project of self creation is
embedded within imagined
communities. The self constantly lives
in this paradox.: to pursue self creation
within pre-given , not willfully chosen
social psychology.
2. Mead’s Theory of Self:
- George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) is an American Sociologist best
known as a founder of American pragmatism, a pioneer of symbolic
interaction theory, and as one of the founders of social psychology.
• Mead’s Theory of the self maintains that the conception a person
holds of himself/herself in his/her mind emerges from social
interaction with others.
• The self, according to Mead, is made of two components the “I”
and the “me”. The “me” represents the expectation and attitudes
of others and of society. (the “generalized others”) organized
into a social self.
• The “I” is the response to the “me” or the person’s
individually. It is the essence or agency in human
action. So, in affect, the “me” is the self object, while
the “I” is the self as subject.
• In other words, the “I” is the response of an
individual to the attitudes of others, while the “me” is
the accumulated understanding of the “organized
other”.
• In other words, the “I” is the response of an individual to
the attitudes of others, while the “me” is the accumulated
understanding of the “organized other”.

• The “I” is the individual’s impulses. The “I” is the self as

the subject; the “me” is self as object. The is the knower,
the “me” is the known. The mind, or stream of thought,
is the self-reflective movements of the interaction
between the “I” and the “me”.
2.1 Mead’s Three Stages of Development of Self:
* Stage 1: THE PREPARATORY STAGE
- Starts from the time we are born until we are about age
two. The children mimic those around them. This is why parents of
young children typically do not want you to use foul language
around them (Rath, 2016). If a two-year –old child can “read’’ what
he or she has most likely done is memorized the book that had been
read to him/her . If he or she had been an older child , the sense in
the segments of the show would cease to have any humor. It works
because he/ she doesn’t understand the meaning behind his/her
words , actions, and tone of voice.

.
*Stage 2: THE PLAY STAGE
-In this stage from about age two to six,
children are in the play. Playing a game with children
of this stage is far easier to just go with any “rules”
upon them. During stage, children play ‘’pretend’’ as
the significant other. This means that when they play
‘’bahay-bahayan’’ they are literally pretending to be
the mommy/daddy that they know.
*STAGE 3: THE GAME STAGE
-In this stage from about age seven onwards, children
can begin to understand and adhere to the rules of games.
They can begin to play more formalized games because they
begin to understand others people’s perspective- or the
perspective of the generalized other.. In this stage, when
children play ‘pretend’, they may still play “bahay-bahayan’’,
but are pretending to a mommy/daddy independent of the one
that resides in their home.
2.2 THE LOOKING-GLASS SELF:OUR
SENSE OF SELF IS INFLUENCED BY
OTHERS’ Views of us:

• The degree of personnel insecurity

you display in social situation is
determined by what you believe other
people think of you- Charles Horton
Cooley (1864-1929).
• How we see our selves does not come
from who we really are but rather from
how we believe others see us. (Isaksen
2013).
• The influence of other people opinions of us
on our selves might occasionally be so
powerful that we end up internalizing them.
• LABELING BIAS occurs when are labeled and
other’s views and expectations of us affected by
that labeling.
• Where things get really interesting for our
present discussion is when those
expectations and our self-concept and even
their behavior start to align with them.
SELF LABELING- repeating
labeled and evaluated by others.
INTERNAL PREJUDICE- occurs
when individuals turn towards them
by others onto themselves
2.3 SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY: OUR SENSE OF SELF IS
INFLUENCED BY COMPARISON WITH OTHERS

• It occurs when we learn about our abilities and skills the

appropriateness and validity of our opinions and about
relatives social state by comparing our own attitudes belief and
behaviors with those others.
• Social comparison occurs primarily on dimensions which there
are no correct answer or objective benchmarks and thus on
which we can rely only on the beliefs of others for information.
THAT’S ALL ,
THANK YOU!!!
 SOCIOLOGY
PERSPECTIVES

• GROUP 2 BAT (1A)

• Tisoy Glazylyn D.
• Hebres Rona Mae A.
• Negrite Noela Mae D.
• Galicio Lorena E.
• Ladimo Mary Joy B.
• Delos Santos Jerick S.
• Ariston Melane T.